Questions and Answers
by GeneaLady
Summary: My first one-shot in a series of 8 rectifying the fact that Andrew and Colleen never officially courted. Andrew has a talk with Sully about the turn of events after Colleen's altercation with Patrick Collins.


**_Author's Note: Given the time period and the society in which Andrew was born in, I didn't like that he and Colleen never had an official courtship, so I decided to fix that with a series of 8 one-shots of different perspectives. This is the first. There is a slight timeline change as I put a two year gap between the events of The Fight and A New Beginning, as Colleen would have gone to college for two years rather than four. I also added the son that Sully and Michaela wanted, although I'm not sure if mention of him will come up or not. All other canon events should remain the same. If you're interested in reading the entire series, please follow me as an author as number 5 will be a role reversal of Mothers and Daughters and will be rated M, and thus not found in the default search._**

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Andrew was stunned. He had no idea what had just happened. He had come out of the château to find Patrick Collins roughing up Colleen and the next thing he knew, Colleen was cleaning up his lip and he was professing his love for her, which culminated in a kiss. Wanting to make sure that Patrick didn't bother her again, he took her home, only to kiss her again before she left his buggy. What was he thinking? He had loved Colleen from the moment he set eyes on her, but the way he'd gone about this lacked thought and honor. He hadn't even asked for Sully's permission to court her. What would he think when he found out what happened? He had to talk to Sully immediately before this went any further. Knowing that he would return home with Brian that evening, Andrew went down the road and decided to wait for him.

A couple hours later, Andrew heard the hoof beats of approaching horses and his assumptions were confirmed when he saw Sully and Brian approaching. "This is it..." he said to himself, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Hi, Andrew!" Brian greeted him cheerfully.

"Andrew, whatcha doin' out here?" Sully asked, a little more intuitive than his son had been.

"I know you must be eager to get home Sully," Andrew began, "But I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment."

"Brian, tell your ma I needed ta take care a somethin' before comin' home. I'll be home shortly," Sully said.

"Sure thing, Pa. See ya at home," Brian replied as he rode off.

"That lip looks pretty painful, you ok?" Sully asked, not knowing why Andrew wanted to speak with him so urgently.

"Uh, yes. I'm fine," Andrew said, touching his lip. "Actually, that's part of the reason why I wanted to speak with you. Patrick Collins tried to rough up Colleen outside the château today which resulted in an altercation between the two of us."

"HE WHAT?" Sully exclaimed, not hearing anything after his daughter's name. "I'm gonna kill 'em!"

"Sully, there's no need for that," Andrew interjected as Sully turned his horse to ride out of town. "I made it quite clear to him that he was no longer wanted in town by anyone. He left."

Sully took a calming breath and turned his thoughts to his daughter. "Colleen, is she ok? Was she hurt? Was she..." he eagerly asked.

"She was a bit shaken up, but physically unharmed," Andrew assured him. "I made sure she got home safely and she seemed much better by then."

"I owe ya my thanks, Andrew," Sully said, extending his hand to him. "I shoulda been around ta protect her myself, but I'm glad she had you lookin' out for her."

"No one should treat women like that," Andrew shrugged off his thanks. "I'd do anything to protect Colleen."

"Yeah?" Sully asked, thinking there was much more to this than Andrew was letting on.

Andrew nodded, "I've been quite fond of Colleen for some time, but today made me realize just how much."

"I understand that," Sully said, remembering that Michaela's abduction had given him the kick in the pants he needed to shake his fears and really give his heart to her.

"I'd like to ask your permission to ask Colleen if she'd be interested in courting, but there's something you need to know before you even think of your answer," Andrew stammered nervously.

"There is?" Sully eyed him suspiciously.

"While Colleen was cleaning my lip, I let the emotions I felt when I saw Mr. Collins' hands on her take control and I confessed my feelings for her," Andrew was scared to death of Sully's reaction, but he wanted to prove that, in spite of his lack of judgement, he was a man of integrity so he forced himself to keep eye contact with him.

"What did Colleen say?" Sully asked, trying to keep his emotions in check. As much as he didn't like that so much had happened between them before Andrew came to him, he appreciated that he was now being completely honest with him before proceeding further.

"She said she loves me, too, sir," Andrew said, trying not to smile. He knew that Sully wasn't fond of being called sir, but since he'd shown him disrespect by not discussing this with him before acting, he thought an extra dose of respect couldn't hurt. He'd rather be admonished for showing "too much" respect, than not enough.

Andrew's response didn't surprise him. Anyone could see that the two cared for each other and Sully agreed that Andrew was a fine man for his little girl, that was proven today. That; however, didn't change the fact that Sully felt saddened that his was left out of such an important event in Colleen's life. He simply nodded, acknowledging that Andrew had been heard.

"There's something else," Andrew said hesitantly.

Sully just raised his eyebrow, letting Andrew know that he wanted details.

"I... kissed Colleen. Twice actually. I never intentionally meant to express my feelings to her with my words or actions before coming to you, but it just happened." Andrew stammered quickly.

"I'm not sayin' it's right, or that I'm happy about it," Sully sighed, remembering how his first kiss with Michaela had been unplanned as well. "But I can see how it can happen. How did Colleen react?"

Andrew's face paled. He had just told Sully that he had kissed his daughter without officially courting her... how on earth was he going to tell him that she enjoyed it? "She didn't pull away or in any other way give me an indication that she was uncomfortable. If she had, I would have stopped immediately and hated myself for doing something to hurt her," he finally said diplomatically.

Not wanting to discuss his daughter's enjoyment of kissing, Sully simply nodded, wanting to get to the heart of the matter, Andrew's desire to court Colleen. "Why didn't ya write an' ask Ethan?" he asked, knowing that's something Andrew never would have done, but still very curious as to his answer.

"When I ask for permission to court a woman, it should be from someone who knows what's best for her, or at least cares about that. It seems to me that he made it clear he does neither when he abandoned Charlotte and the children as well as when he abandoned them a second time. The only thing he's done right by them in years is remove himself form their lives. Colleen has written me often about her family, both her biological parents as well as you and Dr. Quinn. From her letters, it seems to me that you've been a father figure to her since even before Charlotte's death," Andrew said.

"Good answer," Sully grinned proudly. "I'm glad ya came ta me, but yeah, I think ya should ask Matthew, too. They've been thought a lot tagether an' he's very protective of her"

"I'll ride out to his homestead tonight," Andrew assured him.

"Courtship is intented ta end in marriage, have ya given that any thought?" Sully questioned.

Andrew suddenly grew nervous. He had just admitted that he had kissed Colleen without properly courting her and Sully had been quite generous by not pummeling him, how could he tell him that he'd been thinking of marrying her long before that kiss? But if he didn't, Sully may think that he was trying to lead Colleen on, which couldn't be farther from the truth. "I have," Andrew finally decided to admit. "I would never broach the subject this early, but if she'll have me, I'd like nothing more than to be her husband."

"How do ya feel about your wife workin'?" Sully asked the all important question.

Andrew grinned. "I love Colleen for many reasons, Sully," he told him. "But her passion for medicine was the first. There's no way I would take that away from her, not only because I'm not the kind of man that would be a tyrannical and oppresive husband, but because she would no longer be the Colleen I love. I would; however, insist that she quit working as soon as we knew she was pregnant. Being a doctor is too much physical and emotional stress for a pregnant woman, especially one as tender hearted as Colleen. I haven't asked her feelings on this, but she's told me how Dr. Quinn's pregnancy with Katie frightened her, so I believe she's likely to agree with me. She could, of course, resume her practice after the baby was born. Actually, having a wife that is also a doctor would be the best thing for our family. It would allow the both of us to reduce our hours and arrange our schedules so that we could each be with our children as much as possible. It would be true Colleen would be away from them more than if she stayed home, but it would allow me to be home more than if I had to earn our entire income on my own. Not many fathers are as involved in the lives of their children as you are, and that's something I definitely want."

Sully nodded. As much as he didn't like Andrew already thinking about marrying his little girl, he didn't want him leading her on either, and he had to admit that he was impressed he'd given so much thought to their work schedules. "Would ya wait til she was done with medical school?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Andrew admitted. "It would be a very long engagement, but if that's what you wanted, then I would."

"What if ya didn't wait, an' she got pregnant 'fore she finished?" Sully asked, again not necessarily liking either possible answer.

Andrew thought long and hard about his answer. "Well," he finally said. "I personally don't believe in taking any measures to prevent pregnancy, both in terms of Colleen's safety and for the sanctity of life. If she'd get pregnant, I'd do whatever I could to help her keep up with her classes, even when she was no longer able to attend them. Once the baby was born, I'd arrange my schedule to be home as much as possible while she finished her classes. We'd hire a nanny only if necessary."

Sully sat in deep thought for several minutes before finally speaking, "Andrew, contrary ta your actions taday, it seems like ya actually have given this a lot a thought, an' that's somethin' I appreciate when it comes to someone wantin' ta court my daughter. I need ta talk ta Michaela an' Matthew, but I approve a ya courtin' Colleen. I know you'll take care a her an' make her happy. But I don't think ya should ask her right away. She's been through a lot with Patrick, an' so have you. I think ya both should take some time ta deal with what happened."

"I agree, Sully. I would never want what happened today, with Mr. Collins or myself, to affect Colleen's decision, and I certainly wouldn't want her believing that Mr. Collins is the reason I want to ask her to court me," Andrew said.

"Good. Like I said, I gotta talk to Michaela an' Matthew, but I'll let ya know our decision as soon as I can," Sully told him.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I promise that if you allow me the honor of courting Colleen, I'll do everything I can to make her happy," Andrew said as he extended his hand to Sully.

"I know you will. I know you have another stop to make tonight and I have a family ta get home ta, so I'll let ya be going," Sully said as he shook Andrew's hand.

"Good night," Andrew said tipping his hat.

"Andrew," Sully called after him.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"Just because I gave ya tentative permission ta eventually court Colleen doesn't mean I want what happened taday ta continue," Sully said sternly. "You're more than welcome ta keep writin' Colleen an' join us for supper from time ta time, but I want your relationship with her ta be that of a colleague and friend. No kissin'. You'll either see her in town, at the clinic, at the château, or at our home. I don't want ya goin' off on your own."

"Understood," Andrew nodded before ridding off.

Sully nudged Mo'éhno'ha into a gallop and headed for home. Dealing with Andrew's feelings for Colleen would have to wait. Right now, he just wanted to hold his little girl and protect her for the little time that he had left.


End file.
